Nutmeg and I headed out from the Aspen Grove trailhead just after 5:00pm on Friday afternoon. Our plan was to camp overnight at Hidden Lakes and then hit the Timpanogos summit early Saturday morning and then maybe hit Robert's Horn in the afternoon and hike down late Saturday or Sunday morning.
The hike up to Hidden Lakes was uneventful other than running into the Colemans again and passing lots of day hikers going up and down. We chatted with the Colemans for a while and also talked to some TERT folks on the way up with backpacks. It was quite cool at Hidden Lakes and I quickly setup the tarp in a stand of trees I chose. I made rice and warmed up the frozen leftover Chana Masala I had brought with me. Nutmeg snubbed the dog food I carried for her and was only happy with some chunks of a peanut butter granola bar for dinner.
Though I had intended to get an early start in the morning it was quite cold and I slept in until about 7:00am. I heard cheering from the peak at about 6:45am which I assumed to be sunrise up there. We got packed up and ate a cold breakfast and headed up towards Emerald Lake with just a day pack. After looking at the glacier/snow field I decided to go up the conventional route over "the saddle". We passed many hikers on their way down presumably those who had been ont he peak for sunrise.
We reached the peak about 9:30am. We had a snack with the traditional apple, Nutmeg eats the core and a couple granola bars. It was bitter cold at the peak despite the sun. If there is one peice of advice I can give anyone climbing Mount Timpanogos: Take warm clothing including gloves and a beanie/knit stocking cap. After a 40 min stay on the summit we followed a couple of groups down to the glacier saddle, one group of boy scouts and three guys I had take a photo for at the peak.
Though all but one other adult hiked around the steepest part of the glacier at the top, Nutmeg and I took a wild ride using a couple of rocks for breaks. Again, the gloves were essential, those without them were doubled over in pain after sliding down using their hands ont he snow. I used my crampons to quickly descend the rest of the snow field including an additional slid down the north-west edge where it was steep enough.
I got down to the shelter at Emerald Lake and chatted with other hikers and the TERT team. The forcast was for snow down to 9500ft so I decided to skip Robert's Horn and head down the mountain. Nutmeg and I walked back to camp where we rested and I cooked a hot lunch. Nutmeg crashed out as soon as we got there.
I cooked, ate, cleaned up and packed for the trip down. The clouds and sun battled all durring lunch take over the sky with neither the clear winner. The good part was it was a cool afternoon for the walk down. It took about 2 hours to walk down from Hidden Lakes to the trailhead.
GPS Tracks: kml gpx
Google Maps: Terrain
Photos: Flickr
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